Gaming terminals, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Thus, gaming manufacturers continuously strive to develop new games and improved gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play through enhanced entertainment value to the player.
One concept that has been successfully employed to enhance the entertainment value of a game is the concept of a “secondary” or “bonus” game that may be played in conjunction with a “primary” or “basic” game. The bonus game may comprise any type of game, either similar to or completely different from the basic game, which is entered upon the occurrence of a selected event or outcome in the basic game. Generally, bonus games provide a greater expectation of winning than the basic game and may also be accompanied with more attractive or unusual video displays and/or audio.
Another concept that has been employed is the use of progressive jackpots. In the gaming industry, a “progressive jackpot” involves collecting coin-in data from participating gaming device(s) (e.g., slot machines), contributing a percentage of that coin-in data to a jackpot amount, and awarding that jackpot amount to a player upon the occurrence of a jackpot-winning event. A jackpot-winning event typically occurs when a “progressive winning position” is achieved at a participating gaming device. If the gaming device is a slot machine, a progressive winning position may, for example, correspond to alignment of progressive jackpot reel symbols along an active payline. The initial progressive jackpot is a predetermined minimum amount. That jackpot amount, however, progressively increases as players continue to play the gaming machine without winning the jackpot. Further, when several gaming machines are linked together such that several players at several gaming machines compete for the same jackpot, the jackpot progressively increases at a much faster rate.
Game play, whether it is a basic game, a bonus game, or progressive gaming, is typically a function of player activity at a single gaming terminal. Consequently, individual players are rarely interested in game play of other players at other gaming terminals, especially those that are not within view. Recent enhancements to available gaming features, such as community gaming events, allow players to share in gaming activities with other gaming terminals. For example, game play of a community game at one gaming terminal in a bank of terminals may influence game play of the community game at another gaming terminal within that terminal bank. Providing shared gaming experiences allows players to participate in an arena larger than his or her personal gaming terminal. Additional information regarding community gaming can be found, for example, in commonly owned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0317442 A1, to Alfred Thomas et al., which published on Dec. 16, 2010, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and for all purposes.
Interactive online gaming allows players to gamble from locations remote from a casino. For example, a player may access a gaming web site on a global computer network, such as the Internet, from a computing device coupled to the global computer network. The computing device may, for example, be a personal computer, Internet appliance, personal digital assistant (PDA), or wireless telephone (i.e., “cell phones”). To play a wagering game on the gaming web site, a player generally must supply credit or debit card account information. Wagers are deducted from the account, and payouts for winning outcomes are added to the account. Additional information regarding online gaming can be found, for example, in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,722,466 B2, to Wayne H. Rothschild, which issued on May 25, 2010, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and for all purposes.
While some current game features provide some enhanced excitement, there is still a need for additional concepts to enhance the entertainment value of electronic wagering games, such as slots, keno, poker, and blackjack. Although a lot of focus is now being paid to enhancing bonus games, there is still room for improving aspects of the basic wagering game. Such new features for wagering games will further enhance player excitement, perpetuate player loyalty, and thus increase game play and profitability.